Typically in buses, trains, aircraft, etc., multiple rows of seats are provided and arranged so as to provide a walkway or aisle. Rows of seats are disposed on each side and along the length of such an aisle or walkway.
The passenger seats provide a variety of electronic functions such as on aircraft where in-flight entertainment provides audio programming, video programming and communication systems such as telephone service. To convey the power and data signals needed to and from all of the passenger seats, fixed length cables or wiring harnesses are typically used to electrically couple one row of seats to another row of seats.
A change in distance between the rows of seats typically requires replacement of the fixed length cables with those having the correct length for the new configuration. This is a time-consuming and expensive operation. Moreover, the spacing between seat rows is not always consistent throughout the aircraft or vehicle.
The tight physical conditions through which such cables must be installed and/or removed in and around such rows of seats makes the use of cables that are not flexible and have a relatively high stiffness and weight per unit length undesirable for seat-to-seat cabling in such applications as commercial aircraft.
To address the difficulties of fixed length cable assemblies in vehicles such as aircraft, applicant has invented the Adjustable Length Cabling System disclosed in PCT patent application no. PCT/US2005/010289, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.